Oxford United emerge from fog to turn up heat on Portsmouth as they flex muscle at Lincoln City

The U’s cruised to a 2-0 win at Lincoln City with a dominant showing against the managerless Imps.

Ciaran Brown’s 13th-minute goal put Liam Manning’s dominant side in front, before the fog descended on Sincil Bank.

Keeper Lukas Jensen made a mess of Stan Mills’ cross, as he pushed the ball into his own net for the second.

Oxford keeper James Beadle then almost let Lincoln back into the game when missing the ball from a corner, but the visitors then comfortably saw out the win.

The ease with which Oxford ended three games without a success was big plus point for Manning.

He told the Oxford Mail: ‘It was a professional performance for me, and frustrating at times as we created some terrific opportunities but didn’t take them.

‘We had to make a change early on and changed system, which just shows where the lads are at.

‘We had a good chat at half-time around managing emotion, not panicking if we haven’t got the ball and not getting frustrated. I thought it was a really professional away performance and we restricted Lincoln to very little, especially in the second half.’

Elsewhere in League One, Derby closed the gap on the play-offs to two points with their biggest win of the season against Northampton.

A Max Bird double and Conor Washington effort put Paul Warne’s side in control at the break, before former Blues loanee Nathaniel Mendez-Laing rounded off the 4-0 success.

Three first-half goals from Charlton did the damage at the DW Stadium in a 3-2 win at Wigan.

Two more Alfie May finishes made it 11 league goals for the season, with Corey Blackett-Taylor grabbing the other effort. Late finishes from Thelo Aasgaard and Stephen Humphrys made it interesting, but Michael Appleton’s men held on for the win.

In the division’s other game, it finished goalless at Adams Park between Wycombe and Cambridge.

In the Carabao Cup, Port Vale made it to the quarter-finals for the first time - beating Mansfield 1-0. An Emmanuel Latte Lath penalty eight minutes from time sent Exeter out, in a 3-2 home loss to Championship Middlesbrough.